There are many situations in which dates are set, each indicating a deadline for some action, relative to some reference date. When a real estate sales contract is signed, for example, a number of dates, by which time some action must take place, are set relative to the contract signing date. Other dates requiring action may be set relative to the closing date. Typically the real estate agent simply counts off days on his calendar and marks the dates, using his knowledge of the contract and local rules as his guide. Later, the real estate agent regularly checks this calendar to be reminded of upcoming dates by which time some task must be performed.
This method is, unfortunately, likely to lead to failure at some point. First, any human counting activity may go astray due to simple human error. Although this may be unlikely for any particular instance of counting, out of hundreds of counting tasks it is likely that in a few there will be human error with the attendant possibility of a real problem developing.
Second, most action-dates can only be scheduled on business days, and these vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Accordingly, an agent who is new in a particular area may be taken by surprise by a locally recognized holiday that causes him to schedule an action day on a day that is not eligible for the scheduling of the action day type. Alternatively, a minor holiday may be the source of some confusion for the scheduler who has a lack of knowledge of whether or not it is an official holiday or official business day.
Also, in some states experiencing a budget crunch, the employees working in the county recorder's offices are periodically furloughed, to save money. Unless some system is in place for noting this in the calendaring of closing date it may be quite easy to forget, with attendant difficulties when the closing is delayed, delaying a payment that the seller might have been counting on in order to make some necessary payment of his own, and causing the seller to form a low opinion of the real estate professional who scheduled a closing on a day upon which it could not take place. It would, however, be acceptable to schedule other types of real estate action-date-types on a furlough day.